


'Finally, someone who speaks English'

by denyingmyselfalways



Series: How Tony Stark accidentally became a dad [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Happy knows, Happy knows all, Oblivious Peter, Peter being a fanboy, Scienceing together, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony has no idea how to express his feelings, i love them, they're literally so precious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-16 03:51:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14803829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/denyingmyselfalways/pseuds/denyingmyselfalways
Summary: 'Finally, someone who speaks English.''Is that what just happened?'orIn which Tony doesn't know how to spend time with Peter unless they're sciencingAnd Peter is totally okay with that





	1. confused acceptance

**Author's Note:**

> For those who don't understand, the title is a quote from Avengers.  
> (Tony finally finding someone who he can talk about science with now that Banner is gone)
> 
> SORRY THAT THIS CHAPTER IS SO SHORT  
> The other ones will be longer I promise

The first time Tony invited Peter to the lab, he was surprised, to say the least.

It took him a full minute to respond, due to the shock that ensued.

_Why do you want me to come to the lab?_

Tony was much quicker texting back than he was.

_Just maintenance on your suit and all that. Upgrades. Messing around with protocols._

Peter’s response was immediate: _Sure, that would be awesome!_

_K, kid, don’t wet yourself. Happy will pick you up after school_

Peter blushed. He hadn’t sounded _that_ excited.

_Thanks, Mr. Stark_

_Tony,_ he corrected.

Peter just smiled.

“Is there something more important than your education right now, Peter?”

Peter’s head shot up to meet the disapproving glare of his teacher.

“No?” he said, returning his phone to his bookbag. “Sorry. Proceed.”

The teacher sighed, turning back to the board.


	2. surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this seems out of character, please tell me, I REALLY LOVE constructive criticism

The second time Tony invited him, Peter was even more surprised, believe it or not. After getting to mess around in Tony’s lab, working on web fluids, Peter’s suit, and even some of the Iron Man upgrades, Peter had forced himself to come to the conclusion that it had been a onetime occurance.

Tony had probably felt bad about the whole ‘taking away his suit’ thing so he’d let Peter come to his lab to make up for it.

He told himself that so many times that he had actually believed it and was honestly shocked when Tony texted him again, this time on the weekend and asked him to come over.

 _Right now?_ he texted back, unsure.

_Yes, now. We’re already here._

_You and Happy?_

_Yes, now grab your suit and get out here_

_Okay, okay_

He wasted no time shoving his (mostly) finished homework to the side, shoving his suit in his bookbag and racing out of the room.

“May, May, May!”

“What? What? What?” she turned, catching the sight of his suit slightly sticking out of his backpack and slightly nervous expression. She sighed, “Tony Stark again?”

He just grinned. “Love you May!” he called back as he sprinted out the door.

“Don’t get into any trouble!”

“I would never!” and he was out, racing down the steps and shoving through the front door. Sure enough, A black Audi was sitting on the side of the road and none other than Tony Stark came out to greet him.

“Hey, kid, hop in.”

Peter glanced around, hoping no one would see them. He didn’t want people asking too many questions about how he knew Tony, considering it might out him as Spider-Man, but no one seemed to be paying any attention.

He slid in the back, Tony following him.

Happy drove quickly, which was probably a good thing considering Peter didn’t always know what to say to Tony unless he was fangirling or arguing with him.

Tony, however, didn’t seem to mind much, looking on his phone and probably doing a bunch of boring grown-up stuff.

Gathering his courage, Peter turned to him. “Why’d you come down with Happy?”

Tony looked up from his phone, “Huh? Oh, that. I was just in the area.”

Peter frowned. That didn’t make much sense, but Tony was back to looking at his phone and that seemed to be the end of it.

Until, “Why are you inviting me to your lab now?”

_Dammit, Peter, why can’t you keep your mouth shut?_

“Well, it is your suit we’re working on most of the time, so I assumed you would want some input. Unless you don’t like coming upstate, in which I can totally have you text me your ideas, in fact-”

“No, no, no, no, no, that’s okay, Mr. Stark, I was just wondering. I like coming. It’s fun.”

“Right, and you’re not stupid either, which helps.”

Peter cocked his head. “What do you mean?”

“Well I’m definitely not saying you’re as smart as I am, but sometimes it does help to get a second opinion.”

“On what?”

“My suits.”

“Oh.”

They rode on in silence for a little while, Peter mulling over what Tony had said. It finally hit him after about twenty minutes that it had been a compliment.

Or as close to a compliment as you can get from Tony Stark.

“So, Pete, what do you think would be a nice upgrade for your suit?” Tony said, interrupting his thoughts.

Peter blinked, unsure. “Um, I don’t know.”

Tony snorted, “Oh, come on, there’s always some way to improve it. And I know you have an idea in that big brain of yours, so spit it out, what is it?”

Peter just shrugged.

Tony sighed. “Are you going to be like this the entire time? Come on, work with me here.”

Peter hesitated. “Well... whenever it rains, I can’t... stick to walls or buildings or whatever, so maybe somehow creating the ability inside the suit so whenever it _does_ rain, I can use the suit instead of just my skin?”

Tony thought for a second. “Yeah, that might work, but it would be hard to get it to switch back and forth from you to the suit... one second...” Peter watched Tony frown and stare out the window for about ten more minutes, unsure what to do with himself.

“Maybe not the suit, but if we could somehow take the waterproof-ness of your skin and integrate it with the sticking ability of the spider... but that’s not really up my ally. More Helen and Banner. I don’t know.”

Peter just looked confused.

Tony grinned. “Sorry, kid. Just thinking. I _could_ do it. But might be easier if we somehow taught your body to do that itself. I mean, sure it would be really hard, but a lot more convenient. I’ll have Helen Cho look into it. If it’s not possible, I’ll change up the suit.”

“How would you ‘teach’ my body to do it?”

“Like I said, kid, not really up my ally. Just a theory.”

Peter nodded slowly.

“Any other ideas?”

“A jetpack would be nice.”

Tony barked out a laugh. “You’re hilarious.”

“I’m kidding, that would defeat the purpose of half of my web combinations. By the way, why’d you make so many?”

Tony shrugged. “I kept thinking of more.”

Peter opened his mouth to respond, but the compound came into view and that effectively shut him up. Every time he saw it he wanted to squeal at the top of his lungs.

 He was so busy staring at the beautiful building that he completely missed the small smile Tony tried to suppress.


	3. excitement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter I'm going to write for another week and a half because of a missions trip, so enjoy this one

The third time, Peter was less surprised, more disappointed.

Not because he was invited, which on any other day would be great, but he’d already promised Ned that they could hang out and he didn’t want to bail on his best friend.

_Sorry, Mr. Stark, I can’t today._

It took a minute for Tony to respond.

_Why not?_

_I already promised Ned that we could hang out. We were gonna build legos and have a movie marathon and stuff. I would really like to come, but I don’t want to leave Ned._

This time, Tony’s response was quicker.

_Is this Ned kid smart?_

Peter frowned, wondering where this was coming from. _Uh, yeah._

_Like, how smart?_

_He was the one who hacked into my suit, so you tell me._

_That was him? Maybe I’ll have to have a chat with him about personal property later on_

Peter panicked.

_No, no, no, I made him do it. Besides, it was_ technically _my suit at the time so..._

_Whatever kid, I assume Ned’s a Tony Stark fan?_

Peter chuckled, _Just little bit_

_Alright, I’ll have Happy pick the both of you up after school. Make sure to tell your friend this isn’t going to be a regular thing, but I’ll make an exception today. Who knows? Maybe he’ll be of some help to us in the lab._

Peter just stared at his phone for a second, not really sure if he was hallucinating or not. Sure, Tony inviting him over was incredibly surprising. He was, after all, a high school kid. But usually, they were working on his suit anyway, so him being there made some sense. However, Peter had no idea why Mr. Stark would want Peter bringing his friend along.

Maybe he just wanted to be nice?

No that couldn’t be it.

As if summoned, Ned walked over to interrupt Peter’s thoughts. “We still on for tonight?”

“Hmm? Oh, no... well sort of?”

Ned blinked. “What?”

“Tony invited me over to work on his lab, and when I told him I was going to be hanging out with you... well he basically told me he was going to pick both of us up and we could both come.”

Ned’s eyes widened, and he inhaled for like thirty seconds straight. “What?!”

“I know, I knoooow, dude, but you can’t say anything cause everyone will think that we’re just lying to get attention. Oh, and Mr. Stark said this wasn’t going to happen on a regular basis, so don’t expect to come every time.”

But Ned wasn’t listening at that point. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Tony _Stark_?!”

Peter rolled his eyes. “ _Yes_ , Ned, the same Tony Stark who’s been mentoring me this entire time. It’s not _that_ big of a deal.” But Peter was also internally fangirling.

“I think that this is the best day of my _entire_ life.”

And as it turned out, Tony was right about Ned being able to help with the suits. He came up with a couple ideas for the Spider suit that Peter was too shy to say out loud and even helped with some bug fixes for Karen. And if Tony approved of Peter’s choice in friends, no one could tell, but you would have to be blind not to see the proud looks he threw Peter’s way when he thought the younger boy wasn’t looking.

And let's just say that Ned could see just fine.


	4. double hypocrisy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Please enjoy and critique to your heart's content.

The fourth time that Peter was invited to Tony’s lab, it got a little weird.

It was about one when Tony called, which was strange on a few levels because for one, Tony was always griping about Peter not getting enough sleep, - so calling him at that time was a little hypocritical - and two, Tony _never_ called him.

Peter didn’t hesitate to accept it, hoping that it was a mission because he’d been itching to get out and do more ever since May had given Spider-Man a curfew.

“Hey, Mr. Stark, what’s going on?” he held his breath.

“Hey, kid.” The relief in Tony’s voice threw Peter a little. Did Mr. Stark think there was a problem?

“What is it? Is it a mission? Do the Avengers need me?”

“No. No, it’s not that. It’s just... do you think you could drive over here? I know you got your driver’s license a couple weeks ago. Happy told me you wouldn’t shut up about it... that’s not the point. I just have a deadline coming up for some prototypes and... as hard as it is for me to admit it, you do help a lot in the lab.”

Peter frowned. Tony never gave a crap about his deadlines and he could totally just come over in the morning, and why did Tony seem so shaken? But he was never one to refuse a lab offer, so all he said was: ‘Sure, Mr. Stark, I’ll be over in an hour.’

 

Tony poured himself another glass of scotch with shaking hands. Every time he thought he’d recovered, that he was okay, life seemed to laugh in his face and give him something new to stress about. Ross was pushing for more restricting laws for the Avengers, and Rogers... Rogers was still a fugitive. If Tony could talk to him now things would be a lot easier, but Tony would never admit that out loud. Steve would know what to say to ease the tension. Steve would be able to reunite the Avengers. Steve would be _here right now_ if it weren’t for Tony. Granted a lot of it was Steve’s fault, but it would be a lot easier if he were here.

Tony trudged over to his kitchen table where the Accords sat, ready for revision, and sighed. He couldn’t do this right now. If he did, he’d probably drink himself into passing out and not wake up until Pepper found him three days later, sleeping on the table.

He slid the Accords across the table and away from him, resting his head in his hands.

He thought about calling Pepper, but she was on a business trip. He checked the time. One in the morning. She was definitely asleep right now. In fact, everyone he could call at the moment would probably be asleep.

He scoffed at himself, remembering that he had reprimanded Peter not two weeks before on getting asleep after three in the morning most nights. He was such a hypocrite.

Tony’s eyes widened. _Peter._

As often as Tony talked to him about getting more sleep, he knew Peter would never listen to him and would keep staying up as late as his little spider-heart desired. And for once, Tony was glad.

He was reaching into his pocket for his phone and finding Peter’s contact name and calling him before his brain had caught up to what his hands were doing.

Peter answered immediately.

“Hey, Mr. Stark, what’s going on?”

Tony thought about asking him what he was doing up at this hour, but he was too relieved to hear Peter’s voice to respond with anything but: ‘Hey, kid.’

“What is it?” Tony almost laughed at how quickly Peter picked up on the fact that Tony wasn’t quite alright. “Is it a mission? Do the Avengers need me?”

Tony almost said yes. Anything to get the kid to come up there as quick as possible, but he composed himself enough to respond intelligently. “No. No, it’s not that. It’s just... do you think you could drive over here? I know you got your driver’s license a couple weeks ago. Happy told me you wouldn’t shut up about it...” Tony winced. He was rambling. “That’s not the point. I just have a deadline coming up for some prototypes and... as hard as it is for me to admit it, you do help a lot in the lab.” He unwillingly held his breath.

Peter seemed to hesitate.

But Tony shouldn’t have worried.

“Sure, Mr. Stark, I’ll be over in an hour.”

 

Peter never asked the real reason Tony had called him upstate, and Tony never told him. But when Tony woke up on his lab table after staying up for four hours with the kid, he walked upstairs and found the Accords moved back in front of his usual chair at the dining room table and a post-it note stuck to it saying: ‘some sleep might help’

Tony rolled his eyes. The dirty little hypocrite.


	5. bittersweet

The fifth time he was invited to the lab was on his worst day.

It was the one-year anniversary of Uncle Ben’s death.

May didn’t want to take off work because in her mind, ‘Ben would not want me to stop my life because he is gone.’ Or at least that’s what she said. Peter saw the grief in her eyes as she turned away.

Peter didn’t want to go to school. He didn’t want to deal with Flash. He didn’t want to fanboy over MJ. He didn’t even want to talk to Ned. He just wanted to curl into a ball and cry. But Ben would not want him to stop his life because he was gone.

So, he woke up at his usual time, got ready at his usual pace, and walked to school with his usual dread. That’s what he told himself anyway. He was so out of it that he didn’t even hear Flash’s mocking until he was lightly shoved from behind. “Hey, are you ignoring me?”

“Hm? Sorry, what?”

Flash smirked, “Nice try, Penis, but ignoring me isn’t going to work.”

Peter frowned, “What are you talking about?”

Flash blinked, his smirk fading into a frown. “Did you actually not hear what I said?”

“Well obviously not!" he snapped. Then he sighed, "Please just leave me alone Flash.” Peter was already walking towards his first block classroom.

“What is it?” If Peter didn't know better, he would think that Flash sounded almost concerned.

The question made him pause, halfway turning back. “Excuse me?” Peter asked, squinting at the kid that usually made his life miserable.

“I mean, I don’t give a crap about you or anything, but I mean, usually you...” Flash shook his head, scoffing. “Whatever.” He turned and walked away with quick strides as if he couldn't leave fast enough.

Peter watched him go, wondering what the heck that had been about.

“Peter Parker to the office, please. Peter Parker to the office.” Peter jumped as the intercom split through his thoughts.

“What now?” he muttered to himself, trudging down the hallway and wondering what he’d be doing right now if Ben were here. Probably still doing school. Great responsibility and all that. He was laughing quietly without realizing it and oh crap he was crying.

He probably wouldn’t be crying right now if Ben were here.

Stupid. Stupid. _Stupid._

“Pete?”

He looked up and froze. He almost didn't quite believe who he saw standing at the end of the hallway.

“Tony?” his voice was barely audible to even his dialed-up ears.

Tony sighed sadly, his expression crinkling into remorse and he opened his arms. And that acknowledgment of Peter's pain was what made him crack. 

Peter dropped his books and ran into his arms, sobbing. He knew. _Thank goodness he knew._ On any other day, he would be too embarrassed to cry into Tony Stark’s shirt that probably cost more than May’s car, but today he could barely feel anything close to embarrassment.

He could barely feel anything at all.

“It’s okay, kid. I... It’s okay.”

He didn’t really know how long they stood there outside of the principle’s office, but Tony didn’t seem to mind, and Peter couldn’t find it in himself to care all that much.

“What are you doing here?” he finally managed to ask, although he thought he already knew the answer.

“Getting my intern out of school of course. I have a project I need him for.”

Peter’s smile was small. “Thank you, Mr. Stark.”

Tony nodded curtly. “Of course. Now grab your books and get into the car. I already signed you out.”

Peter’s smile grew a bit as he forced himself to focus on Tony's words. “What did the principal look like when you showed up?”

Tony huffed a small laugh at the memory. “Like he wet himself.”

Peter wrinkled his nose. “Gross.”

“Yeah, I tend to have that effect on people.”

He rolled his eyes and grabbed his books from the floor. “Hey, Tony, could we... get ice cream?”

Tony sighed. “Fine, whatever, it’s not like I have anything better to spend my money on.”

“You really don’t. Ice cream is to die for.”

“You're that devoted, huh?”

Peter lead Tony out to the prototype Audi sitting on the curb. “Yeah. Can I ride shotgun?”

“Uh, duh. Who else would?”

“Well Happy never lets me. He says I’ll drool on the console.”

Tony barked a laugh, walking around to his side of the car. “He might have a point.”

“Psh, I would never.”

However, Peter hadn’t counted on falling asleep.

He really should have known, considering he spent most of the night Spider-Manning and the rest of it lying awake and trying not to cry. He never really thought these kinds of things through.

And when his sleep-deprived brain was woken again to Tony sliding a pillow behind his head, he wasn’t really awake enough to concentrate on his own words.

So naturally, as he was falling back into the oblivion of sleep, he mumbled, “Thanks dad,” without really thinking.

It was probably a good thing that Peter was already asleep at that point because Tony wouldn’t have been able to rationalize the glassiness of his eyes and the small smile tugging at his lips.


End file.
